Fackin Wolves

3-3. Defoe finally scores (twice!) for the first time this season. I was honestly hoping JD wouldn't get a tally to his name all season. Probably not the most "fan friendly" wish, oh well. Learn how to beat the offside trap and maybe you'd have more than 2 goals all year.

Hutton as RB. Makes me want to rip my hair out. Gave up a penalty for a tug in the box (hah!). I already miss Corluka. To be fair, Hutton does link up well with Lennon, so at least there's that....I suppose.

Frustrating to only get a point. Fuck it, we're saving the magic for Wednesday at the Lane.

48(ish) hours till another Glory Glory night of European Football.

COYS

Spurs v Young Boys Champs League Leg 2

Tonight is the night many Spurs fans have been looking forward too for years. Last time we've been in Europe? 1960-61. Every Spurs fans knows (or should know) their history.

But everything we and the club have fought and cheered for over the course of the last 122 years is just that, history. Tonight is arguably the biggest game in Tottenham's history.

And we play a team named Young Boys. Fantastic.

They took it to us early last week. Did Harry and Co. (and everyone else) underestimate them? Of course. Within 30 minutes we were down 3-0. Young Boys are a decent side, shit, they beat Fenerbache just to get this far.

There's one gigantic difference tonight. We are at the Lane. 36,000 screaming fans are going to let our boys that we are behind them, no matter what. I really wish I didn't have to work tonight. To hear the singing from the terraces will be amazing. Watching our lilywhites play the most beautiful football (hopefully) and stick a few early goals against Young Boys will be immense. I could only imagine what Seven Sisters will look like after our secure place in Champions League Group Stages. Downloading of the game will suffice for me tonight I guess.

So how are we going to do it? Our forwards have been banged up lately. Defoe, who will go under the knife by weeks end can only play 45 minutes. BBC Sport right now is saying Defoe will start up top with Crouch. When Defoe comes off, I think Gio should come on for him. If that link up isn't working, Keane should come on to play the 9 role and hopefully those two up top can link. Then, bring on Pavy if all else fails.

Mids should be Palacios and Huddlestone in the middle. Shame about Luka. He cannot stay healthy. As much as we need Luka as the playmaker, THudds is turning into the quarterback of the field. Palacios needs to demolish every midfielder in challenges. Let Bale and Lennon run wild on the wings, terrorizing their wing backs. If we need to bring others on, Niko should get a go. If Harry does want to try and run a 4-5-1, let Jenas come out (shudder) and play an attacking front in the middle of the park. Now that I think about it, how ironic would it be if Jenas gets our lone goal to put us through to the Groups? For as much shit and flack JJ takes from all Spurs fans, I wouldn't care if he never did anything else for us, so as long as he scores.

I'm not worried about our defense. Bassong and Dawson looked lost last week. SeBass will be on the bench for this one to start. Daws and our King will be the two in the middle. Ledley King, Champions League match, at the Lane. He has deserved this for years.

To dare is to do. Ping that ball, play total football, put a bunch past them and move on with it. No hiccups on defense, no stupid giveaways.

Tonight is what every Spurs fan has waited for, and I for one, am not ready to quit hearing the Champions League anthem.



COYFS

I bought a new camera today. Some classy little black Fuji film piece. This blog will now have photos once more.

I was going to write another piece about my soccer club Tottenham Hotspur and how we should sign Niko Kranjcar from Portsmouth. A third Croatian on Spurs would be insane. He'd be able to fill in the gap left by an injured Luka, give time off to Palacios and Hudds and allow us for even more depth at midfield. Instead of that, I sit patiently awaiting the transfer news of him to Spurs. My buddy texted me around 1:30 pm telling me Niko was all but signed. There goes my Niko Pompey shirt I've had for 2 years now.

Also, for those of you who read Beardy's Blog you know he's done the Gint A Cuffs. I wish I had gotten into it as it's a great way to collect cards with people and try and fill in the gaps via other collectors. However, I don't really like A&G at all. So instead, I'd much rather find some people who'd like to bust a few boxes of Goodwin Champions when that hits in about 2 weeks. Anyone down? The few who probably don't read Beardy, I suggest you go check it out.

Spurs, 4 Games, 12 Points.

I've only been a fan of Spurs for about 4 years now. I have knowledge of the rich history at Spurs. The 60's era, the 80's, Ossie, Greaves, Hoddle, Villa, Bill Nicholson. All legends. One of the few clubs who've never been relegated since the Premier League was founded. Lilywhite and Blue. The only heartbreak I've felt since aligning myself with Spurs was at the end of 2005/2006, and to be honest, I didn't feel much as this was my first year following them.

With that said, starting a season out with all 3 victories and being the best start in club history since 1960-61 is something of magic, even a curse. I do often say I understand the troubles and woes all Tottenham fans share being that I've grown up in Cleveland and felt the pain and misery (albiet not as long as many others have felt).

Birmingham at home. Spurs off to the best start in nearly 50 years. Haven't lost at home since November of 2008. Something has to give, right?

Overall play was iffy, at best. No goals in the first half. Ledley King would leave with a groin injury and Hutton would come on. Our defense is already bare bones, but luckily for us Woodgate is going to start training and should be ready soon.

Then in a blink of an eye, Luka Modric, our creative force gets hurt. Reports are now that he is out 6-8 weeks, with Luka saying only 4-6. Either way, that's quite a bit of time to be out. The team will have to adapt without him, something that needs to be figured out in training, soon.

Although those two injuries are a black eye for all Spurs fans this week, there cannot be enough emphasis put on the positives from Saturday. Crouch scoring his first goal. And then, there's Lennon. The lightning fast Aaron with a much needed end product. A gift of a 95th minute and Aaron's end product came to fruition at the perfect time. This is why I love soccer/football. This is Tottenham.

COYS

West Ham, London Derby

The Cup Final. Where to Hammers fans this is the match us Spurs fans look forward too all year. To us, we play it off the same exact way. If the Hammers beat us twice in a year, it makes their season, regardless of their finish in the table.

During our fine 2005/2006 campaign, we needed to win our final game in order to qualify for the Champions League. Probably the biggest game in our most recent history. That day our whole team came down with flu-like symptoms due to some bad lasagna. This game was in West Ham. We lost and the rest is history.

However, Sunday we were again at Upton Park for (one of) our London Derbies. Highlights below.

3 Games. 9 Points. Best start since 1960/61, which was one of our legendary Spurs squads that ended up with the first ever double. Birmingham at the Lane on Saturday.

Defoe v Hull

Hull Away. Hightlights Here. Write-up below.

The swagger was there for Spurs and you could tell by the opening 10 minutes of play. Spurs controlled the ball, passing was great, and we were pushing up. The Hull backline (lead by Anthony Bambi Gardner himself) had their hands full the entire game. Jermain Defoe scored just 10 minutes in with a beautiful pass from superstar quarterback Tom Huddlestone.

After the first goal Hull tried a few efforts, mostly on the back of Stephen Hunt who did give Vedran Corluka trouble (which was a recurring theme all game). However shortly after that Wilson Palacios scored his first goal of the year. Just 13 minutes in, Spurs are up 2-0. Lovely way to ease that 1 goal pressure off. Unfortunately within a minute Hull would be on the attack and send a ball in the box that Gomes would punch out, but upon coming down to the ground would have to leave the game due to landing odd. To me it seemed that his ankle was rolled pretty hard. Cudicini the Italian Stallion would come in.

Hull would get a goal in the 25th off the dead ball kick by Stephen Hunt. I honestly though Geovanni (Super Sub) got his head to the ball but the goal was awarded to Hunt. 2-1 Spurs. Cuidcini was out of place, but the marking of Hull attackers was horrible. Corluka should have covered one of the runners, while T. Hudds was racing back to try and cover someone.

After Hull's first, I got that feeling in my stomach I always do when Spurs are up by a goal. I could sense that Hull might come back, and in usual Spurs fashion, we'd let them. Fans were alive again and Hull seemed rejuvenated. However Spurs pushed up and Hutton made a great run down the right side only to be stopped by what some thought was a handball in the box, but it wasn't intentional at all.

Much like Defoe, Lennon, Huddlestone, and even Keane were giving Hull nightmares early on, Geovanni and Folan were giving Corluka nightmares. The two paired up a few times and almost capitalized on a Corluka error but Hutton came from behind to make a fantastic tackle to save what could have been an equilizer. The kill sense wasn't there for Spurs nearing the end of the half as the passing tried to be forced instead of going with what was working early on. And then right when I thought we might be sluggish, Defoe puts one in for his second before half. 3-1 Spurs.

Second half went on and nothing really of note happened (at least to me) until the 77th when Robbie "dream move" Keane scored on a header. 4-1 Spurs. Honestly to hear the words Robbie Keane and goal in the same sentence gave me chills. Yes, he scored a few when he came back last year, but that didn't seem like the same Keane. Hopefully Keane is rejuvenated and we get the Robbie of old...you know the one who scored 100 goals for us.

Shortly after Keane's goal, Crouch came on. Had a decent chance from a cross by Lennon but was right at the keeper. Modric was subbed off in the 84th for Bentley. Luka had a decent game. Gave Hull some problems but wasn't able to push into the middle as much. Not sure if Keane dropping deep had anything to do with it. Did have one decent shot from about 24 yards out, but really that's all I can remember from Modric. Actually I take that back, I remember a few of his runs where he was almost bossed off the ball but held onto it and held off defenders nearly twice his size.

Credit: Nick Potts/PA

The star of the show was Jermain Defoe for sure. Lead the team in our offensive charge all game and just gave hell to the Hull defenders, mostly Gardner. You could tell he wanted that third goal. His effort was relentless and his energy was fantastic through the whole match. And right as time was expiring, he did a nice little 1-2 layoff with Lennon and fired a rocket of a shot into the net for his third and final goal. 5-1 Spurs. MOTM.

Positives of the match:

Defoe. Hands down best player on the pitch that day.

Huddlestone. Read the game well and made some brilliant passes to set up goals.

Midfielders. Excellent passing and distribution. Set each other up well and the score showed.

Hutton. Saved Corluka quite a few times and even got up and made some nice runs. Glad to have him back.

Negatives of the match:

Gomes. I hope his injury isn't severe. Not saying Carlo Cudicini isn't a decent keeper, but he's not our number 1 and if he goes down, yikes.

Corluka. I don't know if he is just rusty or unsure of himself at CB, but he cannot play there. I hate to make that rash of a judgement, but if he errored this much against a team that had a bit more quality (sorry Hull), they'd have probably put us out of the game.

Bentley. No real negative here, but there isn't a place for the guy anymore. I hear some Red team up north is having problems with their midfield. Maybe Fergie will want the "next Beckham" in his squad.

2 games, 6 points. If we continue this pace Top 4 will surely be ours, no? No thanks, I'll settle for 6th this year. Not reaching too much and a nice building point for us.

Round 1, Spurs v Liverpool

The Football started yesterday. Not the American one either. If you've read any of my past blogs I follow soccer pretty hard and cheer for the Cleveland equivalent in soccer, Tottenham Hotspur FC.

Spurs opened the campaign with a rare home game (first one in honestly 5 years) to none other than Liverpool (a Sky Sport Top 4 Club). Going into the match I wasn't sure exactly who would start where and more importantly, who would be our starting strike pair. Would Robbie Keane be up for it, facing off his "boyhood dream" club? Why wouldn't he be up for it? Start Roman next to him? Nah, bad idea. Defoe? He's on form (netting two in a World Cup Qualifier) but it's rumored him and Keane don't exactly see eye to eye. Granted they've played together in the past and had good results (remember 2005-2006....something about lasagna...yeah I remember it real well). Or would our new signing of Frankenstein be paired up with Keane? I wanted Defoe, and we got Defoe.

A lot of people had reservations about Sebastien Bassong. Former Toon player, rated highly, but could he handle the pressure? Could he handle possibly covering for Ledley if his knee started to act up? Can he handle Torres coming at him? Corluka doesn't worry me at all (strong bias there). He's a bit slow yeah, but he doesn't play outside of his skill set and that makes up for his lack of speed. I honestly thought we'd see Bale play at left back. Instead we are treated to Benny Assou-Ekotto. I always love when BAE plays. I get frustrated because I always remember his performances of old where everything he did was surrounded by question marks. To his credit, he solidified his spot late last season with some strong showings.

Credit: Getty Images

Taking in the first 20-25 minutes, I ignored that I was watching complete garbage footy. Both teams played like garbage, but I honestly was just happy to see Spurs playing. I liked the choppy Internet feed I had that made it almost seem that our home kit was all-white. Until the zoom in's where the yellow reared it's ugly head. But in all honesty, I think the yellow isn't bad and I might get used to it. Come next year though, I hope it's gone.

I was laying in my bed watching the game while my girlfriend had the TV on the Food Network, so when I saw Huddlestone's free kick get deflected and the goal, I was excited to go 1 up on 'pool. When I saw exactly who made that incredible shot, I almost cried laughing. Immediate texts. This goal I can almost gurantee is Benoit Assou-Ekotto's career goal. Just a minute before half, a great way to deflate a team. However, this just meant we could (and usually would) sit back and let Liverpool come at us for the whole second half.

Sure enough, 10 minutes into second half Glen Johnson earns a penalty and Mr. England Stevie Gerrard (overrated) ties it up. Not to discredit Spurs, but Liverpool didn't look up for the game at all and played the way until the final 10 or so minutes. However, Spurs looked solid. Modric seemed out of place and wasn't able to get into the game the way we are used to. However his one free kick a few minutes after Liverpool's tying goal would be the goal to win the match. Luka's kick found Sea Bass' head for his first Spurs goal in his first game with Spurs. More texts come pouring in at this point. Even though that would be the match winner, I had my doubts that we'd eventually let them equalize within the last 3 minutes. They pushed hard from the 85th or so until the final whistle but Spurs held strong.

Credit: Getty Images

Lennon didn't really do much this game as neither did Modric. Luka did get some space and was able to pass but didn't have much room to work with. Central mid was completely bossed by Palacios and Huddlestone. All of you T. Hudd naysayers from the past few seasons are going to be proved wrong. I've always said Huddlestone is going to be quality for us. Our back 4 were incredible. Torres didn't do anything except stay on the ground as Huddlestone gave him a few words. If anyone can get me a .gif of that clip, I'll paypal you $10. No joke. I want that clip. Keane had 3 chances and honestly should have put one in. Defoe I really didn't pay attention to. The other two forwards didn't have any effect in the game. Gomes was solid except on his one challenge that lead to the penalty. But that's alright.

Also, when did Liverpool become so thuggish? That was a text my buddy sent me. And after watching a few challenges from Lucas, I wondered the same thing. Dirk Kuyt was an offender I believe late in the game on Assou Ekotto. Just seemed a bit dirty, which is odd for Liverpool.

After 1 game, we've got 3 points. That's more than we had after the first 8 last season. Triffic. Here's hoping to a solid performance Wednesday away at Hull. We need at least a draw, anything less there's no excuse. I don't mean to sound like a Top 4 or broke kinda fan, but no offense, it's Hull. Luckily, I have an off day from work, so I'll be watching the match for sure.

Lennon's gonna find his end product Wednesday and bag two. I feel it.

C'mon you Spurs!

Tottenham One and Done UEFA Cup

Well, the away leg is upon us. Redknapp is at least smart enough to realize that the UEFA Cup is something we don't need on our plates at the moment. We also don't need 6 games in 17 days, but what is a team to do, sometimes clustered fixtures happen.

Spurs are resting or not even bringing these players to Ukraine:
Modric
Woodgate
Cudicini
Lennon
Palacios

These players are injured:
O'Hara
King
Defoe

Cup Tied Players:
Corluka
Keane
Pavlyuchenko

Holy shit. Even if Harry wanted to bring guys with him, there isn't many to choose from. As of 1:30ish EST, I have no idea what our starting 11 will look like, other than slotting in Dawson, Chimbonda (haha), Gomes, Frazier and Bent. After the US vs Mexico game where Gio ran wild for 72 odd minutes, I wonder if he'll be traveling to Ukraine to get some time. I hope he does just so it shuts up all the Spurs fans who think Gio was a waste buy. Does he fit the Comolli signing guide, yes. Is he full of talent, of course. I just hope Spurs make a horrible mistake and sell Gio.

If Spurs can get a draw out of this match, I'll be happy because I think we could push past Shakhtar at the Lane.

Starting 11:

--------------------Gomes-----------------

Gunter---Dawson----Huddlestone----Chimbonda

Bentley----Parrot(1st Start)--Jenas[C]--Zokora---Gio

-------------------Campbell------------------


Subs:
Bostock
Bent


EDIT: Starting 11 is very alright. Don't have word on all the subs as of right now. The pitch apparently is horrible and I don't have a Feed for the game yet, still have the Udinese game on, which is now at 2-2! Updates to follow.

EDIT 2: Half-time. 0-0 still. I actually went out to get some food during the first half, which shows how much emphasis I'm putting on this match. Looking foward to our league play more than anything now, which nearly all Spurs fans are the same. Dario Srna plays for Donetsk, forgot about that.

Fun trivia question during Half Time: Who is the most famous player to come through Donetsk?

A: Sergei Rebrov. Yikes.

I also cannot forget about our American Sports here. Only 8 more minutes until the NBA Trade Deadline is over. So far the Cavs have been linked with quite a few players, but most notably Shaq. Unreal stuff right there. I'm on the fence about if I want us to make a move. I think it's imperative, however I don't want the chemistry to be broken up, or lose Wally.

69': Bent comes on for Gio. Bentley moves to the left, Campbell moves over to the right side. Still running a 4-5-1. Hopefully we can get some magic out of Bent and score on a counter. Donetsk pushes up a lot and hopefully we can catch them off guard.

78': Goal for Donetsk. They brought on a sub and within 10 seconds the sub scores. All the fault is put on Gomes for sure. Completely out of place for the ball. Gomes came out and was in complete no-man's land and tried to punch the ball away, even though he was at least 2 yards away from ever touching it. Unreal. He's tried to give this away by throwing the ball to a defender who was 23 yards out. Now Gomes is down and about to be carted off by the stretcher. Unbelievable how fast this guy has fallen from grace after being with PSV.

88': Just as John Bostock is about to come on Donetsk scores their second. Bad defending by the back 4 as Jadsen (sp?) puts the ball across the body of Gomes. Bostock comes on for Parratt, who looked fantastic today. Hopefully he'll continue to impress. I was going to do a write up about how a 1-0 lead going back to WHL wouldn't be to bad, but having to score 3 is going to be nearly impossible, especially on our form all year. Well, nice to get this out of the way and focus strictly on league play.

UEFA Cup Feb. 18 2009

Plenty of games going on today.


18:00 Dynamo Kyiv ? - ? Valencia
18:15 Zenit St. Petersburg ? - ? Stuttgart
18:30 Olympiakos Piraeus ? - ? Saint-Etienne
20:00 Aston Villa ? - ? CSKA Moscow
20:35 Werder Bremen ? - ? AC Milan
20:45 Bordeaux ? - ? Galatasaray
20:45 NEC Nijmegen ? - ? Hamburger SV
20:45 Paris S.G. ? - ? Wolfsburg
20:45 Sampdoria ? - ? Metalist Kharkiv
21:00 Aalborg BK ? - ? Deportivo La Coruna
21:45 Braga ? - ? Standard Liege

Predictions of winners are bolded.

This soccer/football tournament is comparable to the NIT Invitational for College Basketball. While the UEFA Champions League is the biggest clubs in the world (sorry AC Milan), the UEFA Cup still have some of the larger teams however these are more of the "second tier" of club teams in Europe. I'm hoping that Olympiakos beats St. Etienne, just because Comolli works for Eteinne. Villa-CSKA should be a really good game. And it'd be incredible to see Werder Bremen beat AC Milan. Hopefully Hugo Almeida can put 2 away and finish off Milan, but most likely not. Last but not least, Hamburger SV should have an easy time with NEC Nijmegen. Spurs played them last year without much troubles, and Hamburger should do the same. Not to mention Martin Jol is in charge over there in Germany with two quality fowards (Mladen Petric, Ivica Olic).

Spurs playing tomorrow against Shakhtar Donetsk. Game is away and Redknapp is talking about not having Luka travel with the club due to hurting his ankle. With Keane, Corluka, and nearly the rest of the club ineligible to play due to Cup ties, we can all but kiss UEFA Cup done. Having Darren Bent up top alone is bad, but factor in that there isn't anyone to command in midfield (except Lennon who doesn't have an end product) and there really isn't a need to watch this match if you don't have to. At least with the defense we should be okay, maybe. Ledley is out. But the way Dawson has played we shouldn't need Ledders. I'll for sure be watching just to see how the reserve squad plays, who knows maybe Zokora will go crazy and score a brace. Haha, just kidding.

Last Minute Transfers

Today is officially the last day for Euro soccer to transfer players amongst teams.

I'll be live blogging as the events go down, mostly about Tottenham.

So far we're linked back with Robbie Keane. This is after the whole "tapping up" nonsense Rafa said we did. Spurs weren't the one tapping up Robbie, Rafa, you were a few months ago.

Also linked to Quaresma of Inter. Weird pairing. Mourinho would want Jenas if we were selling, which Jenas to Inter is about as odd as any transfer window could ever be.

Talk about selling Darren Bent. His goal scoring has been inconsistent, but when broken down over the season, the ratio of goals scored to games played is solid. Not many people are big on Bent, but he's in the wrong system at Spurs, not his fault. To me, this is reminiscent of fans not liking Defoe, even though he was decent for us behind Keane-Berbatov. Moment we sold Defoe and Keane and Berbs left, everyone was crying to get JD back at Spurs. So we did, and now look how that is turning out.

Also, Arshavin is still in the news. I'm getting really tired of the Russian.

EDIT: 2:30pm:

Robbie Keane is once again going to be wearing the Lilywhite and Blue. Unreal. Not even 6 months at the boyhood dream club and it's deemed a massive failure. Guranteed this will be an undisclosed transfer fee.

All we need now is to sign Mido from 'Boro and we'll have our lovely striking squad from 2005-2006. Man what I'd give for Edgar Davids back. Hopefully Palacios will be our new Davids, then our midfield might actually be able to perform. Although why Redknapp loves Zokora is beyond me. Wish he rated him highly when he was still at Pompey, could have sold him off for a nice few million.

Quaresma ends up at Chelsea. This will be a fun end run for Chelsea. A moody player is all they need, especially one who is very much off and on. I'd gladly bet this turns into a Sheva type outcome, but with attitude.




More to come!

Across the Pond Part Two:

I haven't had any time to post more of what I received from John in our Baseball Cards for Football cards deal. I also haven't had the time to send out any of the packages that I owe, so I'm going to try and add a bit extra to the few that I need to send out, sorry for the delay. School and work are killing me.

This entry is about two Football Cards I received. The first card, of Croatian superstar Luka Modric is a 2008-2009 Topps Match Attax card. These cards are wildly popular over in the UK. So much so, that Topps is bringing Match Attax over here to America, but for baseball.



Luka is by far my favorite player on Spurs. Ever since Davids left, I didn't really have a favorite player. Sure I liked Keane and I loved Berbatov, but they both left too. Luckily for me, Spurs snapped up Luka before Euro 2008 and he has looked great. Too bad Spurs are horrible so far this year, worse than usual.

The next card I received was in a few of the Match Attax packs I was sent.



Niko Kranjcar of Portsmouth. Niko was injured for quite some time, and is finally back to playing for Pompey. Another one of my favorites in the EPL by far. Even have his Pompey jersey from last year.

I really like the look and feel to these cards. Real sharp. I just wish the back had some stats or a short bio, but that's alright.

I'd love to try and get all the variations of Luka and Niko's card, as well as all the Vedran Corluka cards.

If you can't tell of the bias in this post towards Croatians, it's because I'm a Croat myself.

The next time I do a post about Match Attax it will be all about the other Tottenham guys I got, and there were plenty.

And the Spurs Go Marching On!!!

Burnley. Burnley. 3-2 Burnley. We gave up a 4-1 aggregate lead to Burnley. Luckily Pavy and JD tallied two for us late into the second half of extra time, but still.

This team is going nowhere fast, other than Championship Football. Redknapp is lashing out at players in public. Bale continues to play with below zero confidence. Lennon is coming back down to Earth. Our fowards are doing nothing. Modric has nobody behind him. Our defense has more injured than a hospital in the middle of Germany in WW2.

This is going to be a long rest of the season. Luckily there's only a 6 or so point difference between spots 12-20.

Transfer Window BS

Failed to sign Palacios from Wigan. Understandable since they are sitting pretty in 7th place right now while we are nearing the bottom. Could be of good use to us, but whatever.

Also, lol at the fact that Adriano is in the same breath as Spurs. To me, it's almost as ridiculous as Podolski to Spurs rumors that were rampant back in August. Adriano has been off and on for Inter, especially with Mourinho at the helm. That could help the cause for him leaving Inter, but no way do I see him wearing Lilywhite anytime soon. Scratch that, make it never wearing Lilywhite ever.


"Where is Tottenham and why would I go there?"

By far the icing on the cake to the Adriano rumor is that they want Jenas in return. Brilliant tabloid work there. No team in their right mind would want Jermaine Jenas. I hate to beat an old drum, but he does absolutely nothing. Other than that one free kick against United two seasons ago. But the only thing that did was get his rating over an 85 in FIFA. The only way that Jenas would go to Inter is if Comolli was a part of Milan's board. But even then, would Damien want Jenas?


Should have never left Newcastle.

Even if we didn't get Adriano, I'd gladly get rid of Jenas for Vieira. And yes, I know he is an ex-Gunner. But at this point, he'd help our already busted up midfield. Wouldn't mind seeing him playing mid next to Appiah.

It's a shame Niko Kranjcar is still hurt, I'd love to rid the team of Bentley and have Niko running the right side of the field. Link him up with Vedran behind him and Luka as a second striker. Hell, I just want to make the whole club Croatian.

Wigan 1- Spurs 0

Where to begin? Spurs lacked everything today. No determination, no guts, no idea how to pass, nothing. NOT A SINGLE THING.

Harry has clearly lost any semblance on how to help our league form as we fall back into relegation zone. Harry, it's January 11, we shouldn't be playing as though we are zombies. What the hell did he do at Pompey to make them a solid football club in his brief time there that he cannot do at Spurs?

Defoe did nothing. Modric did nothing and was substituted just a bit past halftime. Jenas was Jenas, piss poor. Go back to Newcastle where you came from, you are trash.

Ledley King played. Great to see Ledley being able to play more than once a year now. Oh wait, he played in Central Mid. With Zokora. I'm baffled.

Pavy didn't impress and was taken off for Frazier Campbell. Campbell did absolutely nothing, much like he usually does.

The only usual thing about Spurs today was that we lost in the 91st minute.

Our upcoming non league fixtures will be wonderful. United in the FA Cup and Shaktar in the UEFA. We don't stand a chance, and rightly so. Maybe Redknapp will realize that he needs to straighten this team up or Levy will get trigger happy again. Honeymoon is over Harry, start getting the team together, get some positive results to catapult us out of relegation zone.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that Kevin-Prince Boateng is no longer a Spur. He's going back to Germany. Not that it really matters though, he was more flash than footballer.

Wigan Away 01/11/2009

Spurs currently sit in 16th just shy of relegation zone, on goal difference alone. That's scary enough to think about. It's January 10th and we are not even a point out of relegation zone. Yikes.

Wigan usually aren't that great, but they aren't bad either. Their form over the last few games have been solid, with 3 wins in a row, and 5 in the last 6.

Spurs have been horrid in league form as of late (LWDLDL). In the Cups we've been solid, having recently beating giant killers (....) Burnley in the semi-final first round leg in the Carling Cup.

Last time Spurs have faced Wigan was last Friday when we defeated them 3-1 in the FA Cup third round.

Alan "Long Term Injury" Hutton is out, most likely forever as Vedran Corluka has shown that right back is his forte. Benoit Assou-Ekotto is also out, but with a 2 game match ban, due to a red card he picked up in the last game. Usually I'm all for Benoit not seeing the pitch, but as of late he's been very good, and with Gareth Bale not having any confidence or form, I'm a bit skeptical at left-back tomorrow.

In Midfield, we'll be lead by pint size Croatian Luka Modric. Jermaine Jenas will most likely see the pitch as well after serving his suspension. Great. Huddlestone along with David Bentley most likely will not start but might see action tomorrow if we go down early.

Spurs also signed our first DM since the days of Edgar Davids, Stephen Appiah. You may remember him from the 2006 World Cup where he was a force to be reckoned with. I highly doubt he will see any action tomorrow.

As for our attack. With Pavy finally finding his wings in the Premier League, I am optimistic he can put a bunch more goals in for us. Oh, and an old friend is back at the Lane this week after a year long "loan".

Welcome home Defoe, you're a Yiddo!



You found your form at Pompey and I'm glad you excelled there. It was a shame how you left last year. It's very understandable being the back-up to arguably the best strike duo in the league last year with Keane and Berbatov, but to play behind Darren Bent, that's ridiculous. Glad to see you in the lilywhite shirt and simply cannot wait to see you bag a shitton of goals for us, because we all know we need it.

Predicted XI:

-----------------------Gomes-----------------------

Corluka---------Woodgate---------King----------Bale

Lennon-------------------O'Hara----------Jenas-----

-------------------------Modric--------------------

--------------Pavlyuchenko---------Defoe-----------

Subs:
Dawson
F. Campbell
Huddlestone
Bentley
Gunter

My Score:
Spurs 2-1

Goals:
Modric
Defoe

C'mon You Spurs!

Derosa, Yankee Stadium, Transfer Window

I've been in New York City over the last few days to celebrate New Years. While I no longer have any money left in my bank account, my liver, or a kidney which I might have sold on the black market to give myself more cash to spend in the city, it was a great time.

I did make it up to Yankee Stadium, which just to say I got there is something special. Unfortunately, the stores around the stadium do not sell any Cory Lidle shirts.

While I was celebrating the New Year, the Cavs lost a game in Miami, the English Premier League's Transfer Window opened, and the Tribe traded for Mark Derosa.

I have tickets for the Cavs game tonight 7 rows off the bench, and if they lose tonight I'm not talking about them the rest of the season.

As for the other Cleveland Team making positive moves, the Indians acquired Mark Derosa from the Cubbies. We only gave up RHP Jeff Stevens, RHP Chris Archer and LHP John Gaub. I had only heard of Stevens before this, because he was on the Olympic Team with LaPorta. Unfortunately Stevens one appearance was a blown save and he wasn't used again. With Randy Newsom tearing up our farm system, Stevens seemed that his time with us was running out. The other two are much lower in our farm system and don't have bad numbers, but whether they pan out won't be known for at least another few seasons.

Mark DeRosa on the other hand is an alright pick up. Obviously he won't get near his last season, which was the best of his career. I doubt Mark will be with us past this season, due to him being 34 and a free agent after this season. Plus we have Wes Hodges about a season away from coming up and hopefully doing more than Andy Marte could ever dream of.

With DeRosa's acquisition, this no longer means Peralta and Asdrubal will be moving to 3B and SS respectively. In doing so, I really strongly feel that Josh Barfield might not be with us when Spring Training opens up in about a month.

Speaking of a month long, this month should be a very exciting one for Tottenham. Harry Redknapp's honeymoon with us is over after not getting dumped by West Brom over the weekend 2-1. This game showed just how horrible our fowards have been and it is crucial we sign a foward who does more than just "run around". The midfield needs a defensive cog ASAP. Yes Luka is fantastic and much stronger than anyone thought the little Croat could be, but he can't do everything. Jenas is garbage. Bentley is about as good as, well nothing. He needs to ride the bench and actually watch the game and see what a right mid is all about. And please, no more expensive signings (Bellamy, Downing). They would not be worth our time and would only put us exactly where we were pre-Martin Jol era.

UD Black Diamond Hockey

I bought five packs of the newest Black Diamond Hockey last Tuesday from a card store in Streetsboro. Nice card store and have been going to them occasionally for the last 3 years. The store itself has gotten a face lift on the inside and looks really nice now. It's on Route 14, and coming from the West, is just past Route 43, on the right side in a small strip of stores.

Anyways, my big pull was a quad jersey of Thomas Vanek (Buffalo). I've never pulled a Quad Jersey out of a pack, although I do own a few quad jerseys. The pull happened in my second pack, which was unusual, as I never really hit for anything in my first two packs.



After the first 4 packs, I decided to try one more pack, out of hope I get another decent pull. Sure enough, this pull was better than the Vanek Quad Jersey. A level 4 Black Diamond Rookie Card of Derick Brassard, who was a strong candidate for the Calder Cup. Unfortunately, he is out of the year now due to hurting his shoulder in a fight about a week and a half ago. That is the worst thing to happen for him and for Columbus, since the team is showing signs of promise between him and Ryan Mason between the pipes



I don't have enough time to blog about the current Browns season and recent firings of Savage and Crennel, but there will definitely be a solid blog in the near future. Between them and Tottenham, I don't really know what to say about my sports teams. And I refuse to blog about the Cavs, because the moment I dedicate a blog to them, they'll start doing bad. I have been watching every game and am completely lost for words the way the team is performing.

Also hope to put up a series of blogs about the Indians whole system and what I hope to be done for our 2009 campaign.

Goodbye Paul

Yesterday I did not get to see any of the Tottenham game. Away at Newcastle is always trouble for us for whatever reason. However, as I'm getting ready to sit through 3 hours of terrible football between the Brownies and Bungels, my buddy texted me saying "Lukkkaaa". All I knew is that Spurs little Croatian midfielder, Luka Modric put up his first premier league goal, and second goal of his Tottenham career. Second goal in as many games, Luka has broken his duck. Unfortunately for Spurs, worthless Damien Duff scored for Newcastle in stoppage time to beat us 2-1. This week is Fulham, or America FC.

However, this post is dedicated to a Canadian. I started to follow Tottenham in late 2005. I barely knew any of the players on the squad but followed because my friend had told me about them. I quickly became attached to our two fowards, Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov, neither of which play for us anymore (Keane is a Red, and Berbatov is with United). There was however, one other player I became attached to, and that was Canadian defender Paul Stalteri. Staltsy had just signed from Werder Bremen during that summer, where he had won some silverware with the team in the later years of the 90's.

Stalteri's stint with Tottenham lasted up until around this time last year, where he was loaned to Fulham last January. Hopefully someone will pick him up soon. It'd be a dream to me if somehow Cleveland City Stars picked Stalteri up, but I highly doubt that'd happen.

For myself, probably my favorite Tottenham moment ever, is the Spurs vs West Ham game in 2007 which finished at 4-3 Spurs. West Ham were in a battle to stay up in the Premier League at this point in the season and needed all the points they could get. They had signed world class foward Carlos Tevez, which in itself was a shady deal. West Ham were up 2-0 on us when Jermaine Defoe knocked in a penalty to make it 2-1. Our next goal came off the nastiest back heel by Aaron Lennon, which Teemu Tainio put into the net to make it 2-2. West Ham came back and put a third in the net, which Berbatov leveled back with a gorgeous free kick.

Our 4th and final goal came off the counter attack. Super Sub (at least in this game) Paul Stalteri followed Jermaine Defoe down the whole field and when Defoe's shot was blocked, Stalteri was there to slot the ball into the net. Stalteri became a legend for that goal. It was a beautiful ending to a very thrilling game, and great to see us beat West Ham at home. West Ham should have been relegated, but the Tevez scandal saved them and sent Sheffield United down that year, shame really I'd have loved to see West Ham play Championship Football.

So thank you Paul for your contribution to Spurs, and hope you find a place to play soon.





EDIT:

Paul Stalteri has been signed by German side, Borussia Mönchengladbach. Borussia plays in the 1. Bundesliga, Germany's main league. Hopefully Staltsy performs well for them and get back to his old ways when he first joined the Bundesliga, way back with Werder Bremen.

Yesterday's Highlights, Christmas, and the Cavs

Here are yesterday's highlights from the UEFA Cup match against Spartak. Other notes about the game:

-Pretty sure that is the last we'll ever see of Gilberto in a Spurs shirt. After the match Harry Redknapp basically killed him off. Sad that the only thing Spurs fans will remember of the Brazilian is his botched game yesterday. He was a wasted purchase anyways. Thanks for that Damien, don't ruin St. Etienne now.

-Our draw in the UEFA Cup Knock-Out Stage is Shaktar Donesck. They are a solid team and a good test for Spurs. Luckily for us, Vedran Corluka and Roman Pavlyuchenko won't be cup-tied any longer. Should be interesting to see if 'arry goes with Ledley for one of the games, if at all.

Here's the goals from yesterday:

Luka Modric's first Spurs goal to make it 2-1.


Tom Huddlestone's goal to tie the game at 2-2.


I don't know how to post video's on this blog, so bear with me, sorry.

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Christmas Idea:

If you read this blog; which I don't think anyone does, I'd like to send you some cards for free. Just post a comment about how you found this place and what you think about the blog itself. Pick a team you follow (sorry can't do players yet) and I'll get back to you within the week. Yes, I realize the cards won't make it to you in time for Christmas, but it's the thought that counts, no?

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Cavaliers play tonight, in Denver and the tip is in a little bit. Cavs are 3-7 since Lebron and Carmello first started their "rivalry". Hopefully Denver continues to not play defense and the Cavs get a solid victory on the road.

Spurs v Spartak Moscow UEFA Cup Live Blog

Pre-match:

Well, having trouble here with the stream. Game kicks off in about 5 minutes, so this kinda sucks. Well shit, changed the stream to the 275kbs version, and it works. Love that the first song I hear is "Glory Glory".

1': Missed the pre-game formation listing. Feed is pretty crappy, but at least it's in English.

4': Modric has looked brilliant in his first two touches and runs in the game. I am pretty sure Bale is on the left mid and Gilberto is our LB for the game. Exciting. O'Hara is in mid too. Spurs possession of the ball is good as well. Fans are loud, love the Lane.

9': And Spartak's first push with the ball almost results in a goal for them. Solid 1-2 link up play by the fowards for Spartak.

Pretty sure our lineup is Gomes (GK), Gunter (RB), Zokora (CB), Dawson (CB), Gilberto (LB), Bentley (RM), Huddlestone (CM), Modric (CM/AM), O'Hara (CM), Bale (LM), Campbell (F)

Spartak has never drew on English soil, 4 wins and 3 losses. That's a fun stat.

15': We are giving the two up top for Spartak too much space to work with. Zokora and Dawson need to communicate better.

21': Forgot Croatian Goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa plays on Spartak. Bale takes a free-kick about 30 yards out, and hits it right into traffic.

22': Ball is played back to Gilberto by our box. Gilberto sees Gomes coming out to try and take the ball, meanwhile both fowards are coming down hard on Gilberto. Gomes stops coming to the ball, Gilberto stops, Russian foward Dzuba gets the first goal of the game. 1-0 Spartak.

23': Ryzhkov almost puts in a second from 20 yards out, just a bit left of the goal though. Past a full-stretched Gomes too.

28': Bentley takes our second corner of the game. Lays off to Luka who passes back to Bentley who still cannot beat the first man. Lame.

30': Bentley takes our 3rd corner. This time beats first man, but beats Dawson too. A lot of possession after the corner, Huddlestone lets off a rocket that is right at Pletikosa.

32': Dzyuba gets another. A long pass is what beats Dawson and Zokora this time. Gomes comes to the top of the box to try and get the ball but to no avail. Dyzuba beats Gomes for a wide open goal. 2-0 Spartak.

35': Get Bentley off the pitch. He's done absolutely nothing this game. He has completely forgotten how to play this year and you can tell it's messing with him. Bring on Lennon, we need a real threat on the wings.

39': Bentley is awarded a corner kick for his free kick attempt. This time he beats the first defender and finds Dawson who heads it over the net. I can already sense the urgency from Spurs to get a goal. Hopefully 'arry has some magic up his sleeve.

43': Free kick, again for Bentley. Another decent effort, again in for Dawson. Spurs want one bad here.

Half-Time: I didn't expect us to be down 2-0 at half. I didn't think we'd get through this game with a clean sheet, but to be down 2-0, shit. Dawson and Zokora are showing their inexperience together, and it isn't helped that Gomes has been caught out of position twice now. Bentley needs to do something soon to help this team. His last two set pieces haven't been bad, but we need a bit more from him to get back in this. Lennon will come on eventually (although he might not even be on the bench, I still don't know). Frazier Campbell hasn't done anything of note in this game. Here's to a better second half, C'mon you Spurs.

45': Lennon comes on for Gilberto. This means Bale is back to LB, while Bentley moves to the LM position and Lennon to RM. I expected Lennon to come on, but to play on the left, not the right. Hopefully 'arry saw something in Spartak's team.

52': Great ball up to Campbell by O'Hara. Solid chance to had Frazier not fallen down. I love how one of the pop up ad's on this stream is giving me the chance to "Win a Free Justin Morneau". I sure know the Indians could use one of those.

60': Over the last 8 minutes we've had two blasts by Huddlestone well over the net halfway into the crowd. Luka Modric had a decent chance, but he really hasn't done much past his first few touches on the ball. Bentley still cannot beat the first man, and when he does, it beats Dawson. I'm debating if I should make tacos or go grab fast food for dinner later. What do you think?

68': GOALLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!! Luka Modric with his first ever goal in a Spurs shirt. Great play by Lennon on the cut to beat two guys and deliver a low cross to Modric who boots it past his national teammate Stipe Pletikosa. Great play, great goal! And to think this all came right after horrible play by Zokora.

72': GOALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!! This time it's T. Hudds! Great cross by Bale to find Huddlestone's head whom pushed it on the right side past Stipe. And just like this, Spurs are looking to push past these group stages with Udinese.

80': We have plenty of chances. Momentum is surely in our favor to get a 3rd this game, right? Campbell is nursing his leg, as the announcers are thinking he pulled something. He got a solid run but legs gave out just meters before the goal, rough. Then a corner just now was sent into Frazier and he was stopped by Pletikosa. I'm really liking this link up play on the left by Bale and Bentley. Maybe David can learn a thing or two about corners from Bale.

90': +3 minutes. I'm alright with the draw, seeing as how we'll get through. Udinese is getting dumped 2-0 by NEC, ha!

Full-Time: Glory, Glory Tottenham Hotspur! Not the prettiest result, but a 2-2 draw will get us through to knock-outs. Great to see Luka get his first goal for us. Highlights will be up later tonight. Sunday has us at St. James Park to take on Newcastle United in league play.